As you may know, there was a SimCity event in Paris this january 25. I was invited to test the game but also to meet Kip Katsarelis (Lead Producer of the game) & Chloe Dubini (Game Community Manager) who warmly welcomed and guided us during this wonderful evening!
Practically never coming to Paris, I was a bit disoriented by the subways, the crowds of people and the search for street names. What surprised me the most, and I think all the guests are unanimous, is the gigantic and magnificent 5 star hotel in which we were welcomed! Red carpet, large doors, sumptuous paintings everywhere ... total class.
After checking that the event was going well here, I set foot in the hotel before seeing on my left, a small sign SimCity. Dressed in a big jacket-sweater-jeans, I therefore ventured into this palace. Damn, I was a little early, I was afraid of being alone ... I still go into the room reserved especially for the event.
Chloe Dubini, Community Manager for Electronic Arts, quickly welcomed me and then introduced me to some Youtubers who were already present. So I joined the small troop on site to test the game with them! The tutorial explained everything to us, our eyes were full of stars, our mouths open, sometimes "Excellent!" / "Wow great !!" went out without our wanting to.
We were thrilled to admire the electricity passing from buildings to buildings, the water which flowed in the pipes under the road to supply the shops, industries and residences, the waste water which went quietly towards our recycling center. , the wind turbines which turned with the direction of the wind, the police officers who stopped a robbery, the firemen who put out the fire in front of our eyes. This whole anthill seemed so real! Everything has a role, each Sim has a job that runs, for example, the local coal factory, they work during the day, come home at night and ... get into traffic jams if we have mismanaged our roads!
There is so much to say, it was É-NOR-ME! An article will present all this to you in as much detail as possible?
Kigyar, very focused on Kikiville of which he is the mayor!
17pm! It's finally time for the event and we change rooms. Several PCs are side by side, large posters SimCity are asked here and there and all the guests have arrived. So there were Kigyar, Zelvac, Elarcis, Unsterbliicher, Youcef, Ange, Alexandre, and other very nice guests.
Kip Katsarelis, Lead producer, explained the basics of the game to us by quickly building industries, residences, shops, hop a power station and a water tower! The city was growing and coming to life quickly: a magical moment. He then loaded another map where he developed a much larger city: oil industries with a multitude of derricks unlocking him access to a seat of a company specializing in petroleum. The latter offered him new options and allowed him to build plastics and other electronic components! In SimCity, you will need sims that will run the industry, producing goods which in turn will be used to build things! Yep, it's already very thorough and you haven't seen anything yet?
Caring for small exclusive video that you will be able to admire in a short time was then unveiled to us, hop, I say no more you will see well and you will ask for more.
We then sat quickly in front of our screens encouraged by a "Go ! Have fun ! =D"from the producer. Chloé was always there, ready to help us whenever we asked, and Chicken would intervene every now and then on the actions we were doing, I thought it was really neat of them to stay close to us and run around with a big smile as soon as we raised our hands.
9 PCs were waiting for us with this SimCity wonder installed and ready to be played!
We were able to test the game for about 2 hours with the mode multi since there were three of us from each region, which allowed us to communicate by chat and to make our services interact or even, depending on the wind, to send pollution to the neighboring town hey hey! We were still all connected to the Origin network in order to compare our statistics with those of others.
I also tested filters ! There really is something for everyone and some add realism and charisma to your city. We all had a soft spot for the filter "Warmer"(Hot). I'll share screenshots with you promptly as soon as we receive them.
So you can create your game in public mode, to play with other real players, or private in order to be the only magnanimous king of the card. It will also be possible to create a public game only by invitation to play with your friends. You will be able, at the exit, to play 16 by regions.
Cheat codes here, let's talk about it! Youcef, a person playing in the same region as me, was out of Simoleons (the game money) and was struggling to advance in the game. Chicken therefore came towards us with a wink and, with his nimble fingers, pressed three keys on the keyboard. I don't know if I can give you this code but maybe it will be shared with you in a future SimCity article ... This week for example! Doing a cheat code will remove you from the rankings globally, this is important to know.
It makes you run SimCity without problems!
So here I am in my city which is ... well which is totally empty apart from a railway line passing quickly to the south of my area and a highway doing the same from the west.
So I gave free rein to my imagination and like all my games of SimCity, I start with a few tidy plots in order to plant my residential homes et shops then my industry a little further. It populates quite quickly and we admire the moving trucks then bring the materials to the Sims who have come on site to settle in their homes. So I need to quickly electricity and water in order to give the minimum to my inhabitants! Loving nature, I obviously go to a wind farm, a water tower but also a water treatment station that I place further to avoid the pollution of groundwater near my city.
It is mainly low-income Sims who move to a new city: avoid too heavy taxes and offer them basic services, otherwise they will not hesitate to leave.
Each building can expand with modules, allow enough space not to find yourself limited. You also have to be careful with placements, putting an industrial area right next to a residential area can make Sims sick! Little by little, increase the size of the roads to increase the density of certain areas while taking care to maintain good fluidity on the communication axes. Everything is organized around the roads, this is an extremely important point. So be sure to plan and create your routes as best you can.
You can create rectilinear, circular or even decide their shapes yourself by letting the click of the mouse press in, freedom, I tell you! Small lines will appear in order to create your routes as precisely and nicely as possible. The more space your buildings have behind the created road, the more they will be able to expand and become an important building. I saw one of my zones start as small as this "O" displayed on the screen then increase in size and importance until it reached go ... about ten of these lines!
We were spoiled! Name name name: p
The fateful hour was getting closer and closer and what was to happen ... we had to stop playing. Aaah no, a little more please!
SimCity really looks like a hell of a bomb, each of the details is thought out and very worked, the graphics are very pleasant and the soundtrack is simply magnificent. I can't wait to get back to it with this beta and of course ... when the game comes out, I'll go for it! No frankly ... it is hyper funIs communal, there are rankings, we can trade with our friends, offer services and ... even do PvP! MOUAHAHAH! What ? we choose where to place our industries according to the wind to pollute the neighboring city!
► In a future article, we will offer you a interview with Kip Katsarelis, lead producer; then one game view with some screenshots and a little more detailed analysis.
I thank Kip Katsarelis for his explanations, his presence and his passion for SimCity and its community, Chloe Dubini (Community Manager of the game) for his availability and his kindness, it was really very nice to stay close to us, to experience the event together and to intervene quickly as soon as we had a question. Thanks also to great guests, the Electronic Arts teams who made the event possible,intercontinental hotel Marceau who greeted us and provided us with wonderful chocolate tarts ... Oh those tarts! Thank you also to you who read us every day, even several times a day ... Every hour ... Every minute that you spend on our forums! Thank you p
You can find some photos taken during the event in the galleries on Facebook. Do not hesitate to take a tour to relive these SimCity moments from your desktop!
